From the Editor
The Reality of the Holiday Card
As the children returned home the week before the holidays, I kept asking myself why I wasn't prepared. This, of all years, when I was living in the "empty nest" and should have had more time.
The office cards were purchased in July, thanks to the endless reminders of vendors from yesteryear. Staff dutifully labeled and signed our greetings for the New Year to our clients. (Please accept our humble apologies if anyone was inadvertently left out.) The office pre-decorated tree was brought out of the closet, and we worked furiously between Thanksgiving and Christmas to meet earlier deadlines for the various magazines. So, at least one area of my life was on schedule. Our social life picked up with holiday parties, and the more peaceful weekend routine was set aside to decorate the house and yard in preparation for the family gathering.
The first card arrived at home the day after Thanksgiving. I wanted to call and tell the sender they should receive the Master of Efficiency award. Within a week, I was looking for a basket to hold the cards we received for reading and reciprocity. While running errands around town, I mentally wrote the holiday letter from the family that I would send out before Valentine's Day:
"Dear Friends,
Yes, the years go quickly with age, as does the eyesight, memory, patience, and other physical irritations. The Wright-Vergon family has shared laughter, tears, joys, and heartache-the typical things that touch every family. But of special trivial interest: the baby graduated from high school and the caravan drove to Texas in August. The squirrels and chipmunks got the best of the yard in September. We met my son's pit bull for the first time on our trip to Colorado, and were photographed sitting on a bull at the Fort Worth Stockyards. Most of the family has camera phones, so we've had fun sending and receiving text and picture messages across the country. We were unsuccessful in coaching a smile from a palace guard in London but were successful in meeting Tony Bennett in Mexico. I first learned of Pusser's Rum in the BVIs and saw the ghost of George Washington in Charleston, SC.
While I think of you often, I have forgotten how to write with a pen, but do fairly well with responding to e-mail. So, if you'd send your e-mail address to jwvergon@peoriamagazines.com, I'll try to get the holiday message out to you next year prior to Christmas."
But this year-prior to the Valentine's Day holiday-I wish you health, happiness, good fortune, and a candlelit dinner with the ones you love. TPW
The office cards were purchased in July, thanks to the endless reminders of vendors from yesteryear. Staff dutifully labeled and signed our greetings for the New Year to our clients. (Please accept our humble apologies if anyone was inadvertently left out.) The office pre-decorated tree was brought out of the closet, and we worked furiously between Thanksgiving and Christmas to meet earlier deadlines for the various magazines. So, at least one area of my life was on schedule. Our social life picked up with holiday parties, and the more peaceful weekend routine was set aside to decorate the house and yard in preparation for the family gathering.
The first card arrived at home the day after Thanksgiving. I wanted to call and tell the sender they should receive the Master of Efficiency award. Within a week, I was looking for a basket to hold the cards we received for reading and reciprocity. While running errands around town, I mentally wrote the holiday letter from the family that I would send out before Valentine's Day:
"Dear Friends,
Yes, the years go quickly with age, as does the eyesight, memory, patience, and other physical irritations. The Wright-Vergon family has shared laughter, tears, joys, and heartache-the typical things that touch every family. But of special trivial interest: the baby graduated from high school and the caravan drove to Texas in August. The squirrels and chipmunks got the best of the yard in September. We met my son's pit bull for the first time on our trip to Colorado, and were photographed sitting on a bull at the Fort Worth Stockyards. Most of the family has camera phones, so we've had fun sending and receiving text and picture messages across the country. We were unsuccessful in coaching a smile from a palace guard in London but were successful in meeting Tony Bennett in Mexico. I first learned of Pusser's Rum in the BVIs and saw the ghost of George Washington in Charleston, SC.
While I think of you often, I have forgotten how to write with a pen, but do fairly well with responding to e-mail. So, if you'd send your e-mail address to jwvergon@peoriamagazines.com, I'll try to get the holiday message out to you next year prior to Christmas."
But this year-prior to the Valentine's Day holiday-I wish you health, happiness, good fortune, and a candlelit dinner with the ones you love. TPW